A Familiar Dream
by G-POP Guru
Summary: Every night Cloud has the same dream. It feels so familiar, so real. What does it mean? Please R&R... more up soon!
1. Cloud's Dream

**A Familiar Dream**  
_By The G-POP Guru_  
  
_Cloud's Dream_

Cloud woke up suddenly. He'd had the dream again. It had been nearly two weeks now, and he wondered when it would stop. He got himself out of bed, put on some clothes and headed downstairs. As he walked down the steps, the smell of sizzling bacon and eggs filled his senses, and he smiled. "Morning, sleepyhead." Tifa laughed and took the eggs off the stove. Cloud sat down at the table, while Tifa served him some breakfast. "Sleep well?"

Cloud's smile faded when he thought again of his dream. He didn't want to worry Tifa, but he didn't want to pretend everything was all right, either. He wondered if he should tell her. "I been having this dream for a couple weeks now," he began slowly. "It's really starting to bother me." 

"Oh, honey." Tifa pulled up a chair and sat beside him, putting her hand on his. "Why didn't you tell me before?" 

"I didn't want to worry you. I thought it was just a dream, and it would go away eventually." 

"I see." She paused, and hesitated a bit before saying: "Maybe we should consider getting you help." 

"You mean a shrink? No way." Cloud did not want to see a doctor. Only crazy people went to therapy. 

"Why? If it bothers you so much, you need to get help about it." 

"It's just," he had never been good at talking about his feelings. "It feels so real, like it's happened to us. I don't know what it could mean." 

"I don't understand. Do you want to talk about it? I want to know what exactly it is disturbing you." She leaned closer to him. "Tell me what happened.." 

Cloud was reluctant, but knew that if anyone, Tifa would understand. Even if she thought he was insane, he would feel better talking about it. "It takes place in another world, or sometime in the future. I can't tell which. Anyway, I'm a member of this rebel faction called AVALANCHE, and oddly enough, Barret, our neighbor, is the leader. He wants to take down this powerful corporation called Shin-ra, which I used to work for. We blow up some kind of power plant or something, and then we head back to our hideout, a bar that you own. It's in the slums of a city called Midgar." 

"A bar?" Tifa raised an eyebrow, and Cloud simply nodded. "All right, go on." 

"The rest is a little hazy, but there's something called materia, little marbles with magic spells and stuff in them." 

"Magic?" Tifa asked, intrigued. "Did I use magic?" 

"Yeah, we all did. Anyway, we eventually met up with all our friends, Yuffie Kisaragi, Aeris Gainsboro, Vincent Valentine, and my old pal Cid. Even our dog, Red, was in it. Except for some reason, Red was bigger, and he could talk." 

"Wow," Tifa chuckled. "I can only imagine the things he would say." 

"He was very serious, not very talkative. He fought with us, though, and used magic, too." 

"Fought with you? About what?" 

"Well, we were all fighting for the life of the planet, because this guy named Sephiroth wanted to summon a meteor to destroy it." 

"Why would he want to do that?" Tifa asked, now completely taken in by Cloud's tale. "And how could he 'summon' a meteor?" 

"He had some kind of super materia that would summon the meteor. Aeris also played a big part. She was some kind of hippie or something, I think, because she was always 'talking' with the planet. It was sad, though, because Sephiroth killed her." 

"That's awful." 

"I know. I can't remember much more, but I'm pretty sure that Sephiroth and I had something in common, and I was the key to saving the world." 

"Is that all?" Tifa looked at Cloud, a bit disappointed. "I want to hear more." 

"I'm sorry, I can't remember how it ended; I always wake up before the end." 

"I wonder what it all means." 

"Me, too." 


	2. Tifa's Gift

_Tifa's Gift_

Cloud went through the rest of the day as normal, forgetting about his dream. When he returned home that night, Tifa was waiting for him. She had both hands behind her back, obviously holding something

"What do you have there?" Cloud asked, suspiciously.

"I got you a present." She said with a grin. She revealed a brown, leather-bound book and handed it to him. "I picked it up downtown today."

Immediately, Cloud flipped open the book to find nothing but blank pages.. "There's nothing in here."

He looked up at her, wondering. Again, Tifa smiled and produced a blood-red and gold pen. "This is for you, too. Now you can record your dreams."

Cloud took the pen absently and stared at the journal. He had hoped that she, too would have forgotten. He didn't like to dwell on such unpleasant things, but Tifa was always so upbeat

"Don't you like it?" Her smile fell a little "The way you were talking about your dream this morning, I just thought you might feel better writing it down. You can do it as soon as you wake up, that way you won't forget anything." She smiled warmly once more.

Cloud didn't know what to say. He appreciated her desire to help, but he was never one to let others into his emotions. He wasn't sure if he wanted her to help.. Still, he wanted to see the situation as she did, and so he decided to try to be more open.

"No, I like it. Thank you. I really do appreciate it." He kissed her to prove his word. "I'll try it tonight."

They hugged each other, and he followed her up to bed He set the book and the pen on the nightstand beside the bed, and saying good-night one more time, he shut off the light. Darkness enveloped the room, and although he knew that Tifa was right there beside him, Cloud was still alone with his thoughts. 

He lay there for the longest time, sleepless. He wanted to know more of the dream, but he was afraid. Mostly he was afraid of the things that he hadn't told Tifa. The city with no sun. The endless wars, and power-hungry dictators. He knew it wasn't real, but then why was it so frightening? Perhaps it was simply the possibility. Tifa and Cloud had always talked about everything. So, why was it so difficult now?

Tonight was going to be a long night, he knew. The dream would make sure of that.

_--::More when I get some reviews. Please review my story! =P::--_


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